When i started gardening here. I needed sawdust to help amend the clay. Used pine sawdust but was told to add some lime to offset the acidic sawdust. Worked pretty good. Now i've got great garden soil. Good luck.

The sawdust would be perfect mulch for Blueberries.

"I was told that the dirt is no good and that I need to remove all the soil and replace it?"

That sounds like nonsense to me.

Jim

Put in a bunch of manure and the worst soil becomes a loamy garden. Don't listen to people telling you to replace the soil, that is nuts. You might have some trouble with the roots, but pines aren't too bad about that. How big a spae are you planning on gardening?

You could get a soil test at your local extension office - its cheap, and FUN! That will tell you what you need to add and how much to make your soil ideal for a vegetable garden. Google '(state name) extension office' and then contact your local branch. They can instruct you as to how to collect a sample. Mine was $12.

As has been suggested, I would mulch with the pine sawdust. Would work well on paths between rows, and can be tilled in later. If the sawdust decreases Ph, adding lime to increase it is a simple matter. A soil test will tell you if you're in danger of a Ph below 6 (not good for veggies).

The pine dust is fine for the soil, but it will tie up N until it breaks down (then it releases it). This is true of any wood in the soil (as opposed to on it). This isn't really a big deal if you plan ahead to supply 25-50% more N than you otherwise would if your plants aren't growing well. If you don't incorporate it into the soil you don't even have that worry.

It is acidic, but slightly less so than peat moss. People add peat moss to soil all the time with no worries.

Whoever told you to replace the soil should not be listened to further.

When I first started working the soil in my garden, I dumped in several bags of sawdust as an amendment. Also dumped in several bags of wood ashes from a wood stove Dad has. Added manure, peat moss & gypsum too. My soil is like a big sponge now when you walk on it. Holds water well & drinks it up like there is no tomorrow. Have done a soil test on it & turned out fine. Lime was not recommended for it at the time. I think that it must have been all of the wood ashes I put in which did the same thing as the lime would have done. I`m happy!

Hey thank u guys for all the advise. The area im going to work with is about 3 foot by around 15 foot. Im not planning on anything big, besides some corn I guess just a few. I have done Tomatoes in pots for years and last year have started to branch out to diff. things. This year Im doing all kinds of herbs in pots and some sweet peas, beans, peppers, etc. Thanks again for the help.

I live in the woods and have lots of saw dust. Use it as a mulch around your acid loving plants.